McCloud blasts building 'cartel'

TV HOST Kevin McCloud has lambasted Britain’s housebuilders as being a cartel-like oligopoly.

- By Ali Lyon

The Grand Designs host said the industry needs root-and-branch reform if the UK is to build enough high-quality homes to solve its housing crisis.

In a withering assessment of the track record of major house builders, McCloud said the construction sector’s supply chain had “been deracinated” by the sector's biggest players, which have failed to supply humans with “basic needs”.

“It’s a great model for those at the top,” said McCloud. “If you’re a housebuilder and times are good, you say, ‘let’s get building’.

“You employ a load of people, bang up some houses and then drip-feed them into the market to control the supply.